A former GOP political operative filed six petitions on Wednesday to create exceptions to Missouri’s abortion law, the Missouri Independent reported.
Jamie Corley, who worked for three Republican politicians in Congress, submitted the petitions to create an amendment to the state constitution that would allow abortion exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and the health and safety of the mother, according to the Missouri Independent. Each petition advocated for similar measures, although only three of the six limited the abortion timeline to 12 weeks after conception. (RELATED: Jury Finds Pro-Life Activists Guilty After 2020 Abortion Clinic Protest)
“It’s going to take a novel approach to change the status quo here. So that’s what we’re doing, building a broad coalition of Missourians who think the current abortion law is extreme, dangerous and needs to be changed,” Corley said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Missourians deserve the opportunity to vote on an independent, rational — and passable — plan to restore legal but limited access to abortion in Missouri in 2024.”
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The current Missouri abortion law, which went into effect after the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, only permits abortions for medical emergencies, according to the Missouri Independent. Doctors who perform abortions in Missouri can be subjected to a class B felony, which could jail them for five to 15 years and would also result in the state revoking their medical license.
“The current abortion law makes Missouri look draconian, punitive and unsafe for families. The law runs afoul of public opinion,” Corley said in a press release announcing her petitions.
Corley must collect over 170,000 signatures before May 2024 to have her constitutional amendment placed on the ballot, according to the press release. After a state government official verifies the signatures, the amendment is placed on a ballot referendum and will become law if it receives at least 50.1% of the vote, according to a Missouri government layout of the process.
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